1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clip for the fastening of an element to a trim panel, and in particular to an attachment clip for fastening a wiring harness to a substrate of a trim panel without the need for additional mechanical fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the automotive industry electrical conductors are commonly bundled into wiring harnesses. These wiring harnesses need to be attached to a vehicle panel, either to a plastic molded substrate or sheet metal. Clips and other types of clamps are used for this purpose. Once molded, the prior art clips require that the plastic molded substrate be trimmed to include apertures for receiving the clips in the plastic substrate. The plastic molded substrate must also have the proper thickness and specifications in order for the clips to be secured to the panel. Creating the proper apertures on the plastic molded substrate requires extra tooling and expense. The additional steps also create more opportunities for error to occur in the manufacturing and assembly stages.
Other prior art clips fasten directly to the sheet metal of the vehicle. The sheet metal, and the apertures for receiving the clips in the sheet metal, have to be stamped and cut to thicknesses and specifications which allow the clips to be easily and reliably secured to the panels. The location of the attachments on the sheet metal cannot be easily changed due to the complexity and expense of creating die stamps for stamping sheet metal.
In either case, the prior art clips require a relatively high insertion force to engage the clip to the plastic molded substrate or the sheet metal. In confined spaces of the vehicle, including areas within the door trim panel, it is sometimes difficult to provide the needed force to insert the clip in the vehicle panel. Hand room is also restricted adding further difficulties in engaging the clip to the vehicle panel. The clips can be relatively large themselves, and often times the required room for the clip is not available.
Further, the prior art clips have legs which extend down from the clip to engage the wiring harness to the vehicle panel. The clip legs are typically of the type which must be compressed together as they are squeezed though the vehicle panel apertures. The clip legs must be larger than the aperture to provide interference, and thus retention, after the clips legs are inserted through the aperture. If the aperture is not created within the tolerances allowed, very great insertion force may be needed, which could lead to deformation or breaking of the clip and possible injury to the assembler. Finally, the prior art clips typically are very difficult to remove after insertion and are therefore, as a practical matter, not reusable.
The inventors of the present invention have recognized these and other problems associated with wiring harness attachment clips for injection molded substrates. To this end, the inventors have developed an attachment clip comprising an inner body portion and an outer body portion forming a cavity and a secondary spreader. The inner body portion is defined by an inner undercut and an inner body lead-in joined together by an inner retention radius. Similarly, the outer body portion is defined an outer undercut and an outer body lead-in joined together by an outer retention radius. The cavity is defined by said inner undercut and said outer undercut. The secondary spreader portion is defined by a first radius and a second radius, wherein said first radius is positioned on a first wall and said second radius is positioned on a second wall. The attachment clip is integrally formed with a substrate by using an injection molding process, extrusion process, or the like, thereby eliminating the need for additional fasteners to attach the attachment clip to the substrate.